Women in Planetary Science Blog “Planetary science, roughly, is the study of the planets, moons, comets, asteroids, atmospheres, and dust — everything in the solar system besides the Earth and Sun. Women make up half the bodies in the solar system. Why not half the scientists?”

NASA OIG: Status of FY 2006 Management Letter Findings and Recommendations, in connection with the audit of NASA’s FY 2007 Financial Statements. “E&Y separately reported in its “Report on Internal Control,” dated November 13, 2007, certain matters involving internal control and its operation that it considered to be significant deficiencies and material weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. E&Y also followed up on matters […]

Final Memorandum on the Review of the National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service “The Government may have missed an opportunity to foster a deeper understanding of the aviation safety environment from 2001 through 2004 because its working groups were unable to reach a consensus on the validity or value of the NAOMS data. As a result, NASA was reluctant to publish a report detailing research and conclusions garnered from the collected […]

Additional Speakers Confirm for 24th National Space Symposium “Actress Jolene Blalock, known for her role as Commander T’Pol on Star Trek: Enterprise, has also committed to serve as special guest award presenter for the Space Technology Hall of Fame Private Induction Ceremony and special guest master of ceremonies for the Space Technology Hall of Fame Dinner, on Thursday, April 10.”

Ares I Vibration Problem Fixable, Aviation Week “Horowitz, now an independent aerospace consultant whose clients include ATK, the Ares I first-stage contractor, and a “greybeard” advisor to NASA through the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, served on the tiger team that reviewed the thrust oscillation issue after it arose last fall. Garry M. Lyles, the senior NASA engineer who headed that review panel, is scheduled to brief Congress on his […]

Scott Parazynski Everest Update: Day 8 – March 30, 2008 – Namche Bazar, Nepal (photos), OnOrbit.com Scott Parazynski’s Location: 31 March – 2 April 2008 (map) “Scott Parazynski and his team left Namche Bazar on 31 March and headed to Tengboche. His team will spend a full day acclimatizing in Tengboche, and then depart on 2 April for Dingboche. The map below shows their general location.” Scott Parazynski Everest Update […]

Not a Mercury or Saturn, but It Goes Way Off Road, NY Times “It turns on a dime and parallel-parks like a dream. On the downside, its a little pricey (at $2 million or so) and its top speed is a pokey 15 miles an hour. Still, theres a lot to like about the concept car taking shape here at the Johnson Space Center. Did I say car? The new […]

Reader note: “I haven’t seen much coverage of NASA’s NOMAD (email/exchange server) implementation bringing ALL of NASA into one centralized email system. Some effects have been to have messages sent from the NASA Administrator classified as spam. It has also caused very large volumes of email (hundreds of thousands of non-spam messages) from non-NOMAD servers be delayed for hours on many separate occasions. Recently, GSFC center director Ed Weiler sent […]

“The LYNX suborbital vehicle now under development at XCOR Aerospace.”

Six High-Tech Earth Cities That Will Provide Blueprints for Martian Settlers, io9.com “If humans land on Mars by 2037 as NASA hopes, they’ll need cities modeled on ones that already exist in extreme climates on Earth. Here are six high-tech (and a few low-tech) cities that would have a passing shot at survival in the Martian climate. Of course there are the obvious choices, like research stations in Antarctica. But […]